Aquino maintains diplomatic stance in sea row with China

NAY PYI DAW, Myanmar –Compared to earlier statements issued by the Philippines during various international gatherings regarding its territorial dispute with China over West Philippine Sea, those made by President Aquino at the 25th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit here are just "gentle reminders."

Speaking to reporters covering the annual summit Wednesday night, President Aquino cited in particular the "very strong statements" made by the Philippine delegation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2012, on the 10th year of the failure to come up with a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

"I ask you to review the statements of 2012 and 2013 and, shall we say, more heated, impassioned was our intervention then rather than this," President Aquino said.

Speaking at the plenary session of the 25th ASEAN Summit held here Wednesday at the Myanmar International Convention Centre 1, the President called on ASEAN member countries to continue negotiations with China on the forging of a legally binding COC.

He said this will "lead to building a better, more inclusive and more prosperous Southeast Asia for all nations of goodwill."

Still, despite a much toned down rhetoric, Aquino stressed that what he declared here about the South China Sea maritime row basically mirrors those made by the Philippine government in the past.

"We are not saying anything different," he pointed out. "Well, at the very least, it’s nothing new. It’s still the same thing that we are saying."

"So if there would be a stronger reaction to something that was old, then that I think would be uncalled for," the President added. "So, that shows that one can say that this is just a reminder that ‘di ba?"

Aquino noted that it was in 2002 when ASEAN and China failed to come up with the COC.

"So, 12 years after, we are starting the informal talks leading to the formal talks," he said.

"I think it behooves everybody to push it further along; and at the end of the day, everybody gets assured of what their obligations and duties and rights are."

The President said this becomes clearer once a clearer set of rules and norms have been established "that everybody agrees to, then the issues, the tensions, go away, to everybody’s benefit."

China, the President said, has even offered several suggestions as to how to resolve the conflict.

"The request was for a creative solution to the problem," Aquino said. "They might present a different solution that is acceptable to us then, if once it’s presented why won’t we try and explore that possibility and resolve this issue?"